How many NFL rookie quarterbacks have won the Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl is the most-watched game in sport and the stage where the NFL championship is won. Every NFL player dreams of playing in the Super Bowl one day and lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy.
After the annual NFL Draft, dozens of rookies enter the league, all striving to make a mark and win a championship. Rookie QBs are under the most scrutiny, with franchises hoping they can transform their fortunes.
It used to be rare for rookie quarterbacks to play much in their first season, but today it’s common for two to three to start in Week 1.
How many rookie QBs have won the Super Bowl?
In NFL history, no rookie quarterback has ever won a Super Bowl. In fact, no rookie quarterback has ever made the Super Bowl.
Rookie quarterbacks have made the AFC and NFC championship games but have not gone on to the Super Bowl. These include Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez. NFL rookie QBs have a lowly .355 winning percentage in playoff games.
NFL QBs who won the Super Bowl in their first year as starters
Two players have won the Super Bowl in their first year as starters. Kurt Warner and Tom Brady both led their teams to the big game and won it in their first year as starting QBs.
Kurt Warner, who was cut by the Packers as an undrafted rookie in '94, spent some time in arena football and clawed his way onto the Rams in 1999 as the backup QB. He would go on to replace Trent Green as the starter when Green tore his ACL in a preseason game. As a first-year starter, he won league MVP, won the Super Bowl, and was named Super Bowl MVP.
Fast forward a couple of years and Tom Brady, in his second year in the league, replaced the injured Drew Bledsoe. Brady led his team to the Super Bowl where he defeated the Kurt Warner-led Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The youngest QB to win a Super Bowl
Pittsburgh Steelers' now veteran play-caller Ben Roethlisberger is the youngest ever QB to win the Super Bowl. He was just 23 years old when he lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl XL in 2006.
Will a rookie QB win the Super Bowl this season?
Never say never, but it’s highly unlikely that a rookie quarterback will win the Super Bowl this season. While QBs were chosen with the first three picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, the teams that chose them are in rebuilding mode and unlikely to make the postseason.
The 49ers' Trey Lance and the Bears' Justin Fields are probably in the best positions to make history this season. However, neither is likely to start Week 1 for their teams and if they are called upon, it’s likely going to be because the team is struggling.